Talk Talk
1984–1986: Commercial success
The artist James Marsh) designed the first cover image for It's My Life based on the band's name. He followed the theme for subsequent singles, remaining the band's artistic frontman and creating all their covers and posters throughout their career.
1984–1986: Commercial success
Talk Talk abandoned the synth-pop style completely with their third album, 1986's The Colour of Spring. It became their biggest success in the UK, making the Top 10 (and certified Gold by the BPI for sales over 100,000 copies), in part due to the Top 20 single "Life's What You Make It)", which was also successful internationally. Another single, "Living in Another World", charted in the Top 40 in Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium and Italy, and just outside the Top 40 in the UK and France. By this time, all Talk Talk songs were being written by Hollis and Friese-Greene.
1987–1991: Experimental period
During the making of Spirit of Eden, Talk Talk manager Keith Aspden had attempted to free the band from their record contract with EMI. Relations between the band and label continued to degrade after the album's release, eventually culminating in litigation brought by Aspden which extracted the band from their EMI contract. In 2011, Aspden clarified the conditions surrounding the dispute: "in essence our motivation in the court case with EMI was all about money and an opportunity to secure a better deal with another record company. EMI in our view had misinterpreted the meaning of the clause which specified when they should exercise their option. They lost the case on appeal." EMI then sued the band, claiming that Spirit of Eden was not "commercially satisfactory", but the case was thrown out of court. Webb left the band in late 1988.
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